Propeller



R. J. GLASS June 13, 1950 PROPELLER Filed Aug 7, 1946 Richard J. Glass Patented June 13, 1950 PROPELLER.

Richard J. Glass, Circleville, Ohio Continuation of application Serial No. 558,999,

October 17, 1944. This application 1946, Serial No. 688,822

1 Claim. (Cl. 170-135.4)

This invention relates to propellers, having particular application to propellers employed in the propulsion of ships and other forms of water craft.

It is a general object of the invention to provancing thrusts thereof is developed conjointly through the design of the propeller blades and through the aid of reaction forces developed by high velocity streams or jets of water issuing from outlets formed in the outer regions of the blades and into the body of Water in which the propeller is operating.

It is another object to increase the propulsion efforts of a ship propeller by providing the hubs and blades thereof with internal chambers or passages, the latter being so arranged as to admit Water into the hub region of the propeller so that upon rotation thereof water is forced centrifugally from the hub toward the outer portions of the blades, where the water is discharged in jetted streams into the relatively static body of water about the propeller.

This application constitutes a continuation of my prior co-pending application, Serial No. 558,999 filed October 17, 1944, now abandoned.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view takenthrough a propeller formed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the propeller;

Fig. 3 is a. horizontal sectional view taken through the propeller on the plane indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 44 .of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a modified form of the invention showing a different structural arrangement for advancing water to the hub and blades of the propeller.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 6 designates my improved propeller in its entirety, the same being formed with the usual hub 1 and curved blades 8, the hub having formed or joined therewith a drive shaft 9 adapted to be rotatably received in a bearing I!) provided in the stern ll of a ship or other form of water craft.

Around the hub of the propeller and disposed I vide a novel type of propeller in which the ad- August 7,

at what will be termed the back of its blades 8, is a metallic casing I2. This casing may comprise an integral part of the propeller 'body, or is may be formed as an initially separate unit which is welded or brazed to the propeller to form a component part thereof. The casing includes a hub portion I3 which is generally spaced from the hub proper of the propeller to provide a multiplicity of water-receiving and conducting passages l4, the latter being open at their rear ends and at their forward ends are in open communication with radially extending passages I5 which are disposed at the back of the blades 8, or such passages may be formed by coring the propeller at the time of its initial casting. At the outer ends of the passages I5, restricted water outlets or ports l6 are provided which face toward the rear of the propeller and through centrifugal action, set up by the rotation of the propeller, produce rearwardly directed jets of water whose reacting forces impart forward thrusts to the vessel equipped with the pro- Deller.

Consideration of this construction will disclose that when the propeller is in use, water will enter and fill the passages I4 and [5. As the propeller rotates, propulsive effort is imparted to the associated ship or vessel by virtue of the construction and arrangement of the water-conducting passages, which function to effect a higher velocity discharge of water passing through the same from the tips of the propeller blades. The arrangement of the ports I6 is such as to cause the flow of water jets into the static body of water thereabout as to impart a maximum forward thrust to the associated ship through the propeller construction, the water streams entering the relatively static body of water with substantially undiminished velocity when discharged from the propeller tips at substantially right angles to the pitch of the blades.

The construction of my propeller is, of course, subject to certain variations over the preferred form thereof as above set forth. Thus in Fig. 5, the propeller shaft 9a is provided at one end thereof with a longitudinally extending bore I9 by means of which water is supplied to the passages 14 and I5 of the propeller 6. The inner end of the bore l9 terminates in a lateral slot 20 and around this slotted portion of the shaft So, there is arranged a manifold 2|. Water is drawn in the side of the ship as at 22 and passes into a sump tank 23 where it may be suitably filtered. From the tank 23, a valve controlled pipe line '24 leads to the manifold 2| or, optionally, to a suitably powered pump 25, the outlet 26 of said pump leading to the manifold 2|. With this construction, water may be delivered to the propeller under pump pressures. It will be obvious that other structural variations may be provided without departing from the fundamental principles of the invention.

A propeller constructed as described herein develops higher efficiencies, that is, thrust-producing effort, with the same engine horse power, than propellers of standard construction. In the preferred form of the invention, there are'no movable parts and the stream velocities are secured by centrifugal force created throughthe rotation of the propeller. essentially simple and does not increase substantially the cost of propeller manufacture.

While I have described my invention as being particularly applicable to the designof marine propellers, nevertheless, it will be understood that I do not limit myself tothis particular field of propeller usage, but reserve the right to employ the same'for all uses to which it may find application.

I claim: v v I Ship construction comprising a propeller shaft bearing, a propeller shaft rotatable in said bearing and projecting beyond one end thereof and a propeller mounted ontheprojecting end of said shaft, said propeller embodying a hub formed with an axial bore for the reception of saidshaft, spaced'blades formed with" and ex- 't'nding"radially from said hub, the pitch of said blades being such that when the propelleris rotated it produces water displacement substanwater-conducting passages,- said hub including a forwardly disposed hollow extension'which sur- "Ihe construction is rounds said bearing and which extension forms the water inlet for said passages, said passages being diminished in cross sectional area between their inlet and outlet ends, and the outer ends of said passages at the tips of said blades being deflected rearwardly so that water jets issuing therefrom during rotation of the blades are discharged in directions imparting propulsive thrusts to the propeller.

RICHARD J. GLASS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 157,809 Fletcher Dec. 15, 1874 257,416 Uren May 2, 1882 630,821 Walker Aug. 8, 1899 736,952 Fox Aug. 25, 1903 864,484 Ording Aug. 27, 1907 900,797 Taylor Oct. 13, 1908 1,018,223 Wieland Feb. 20, 1912 1,190,755 Hahn July 11, 1916 1,300,552 Barr Apr. 15, 1919 1,604,994 Grosso et al. Nov. 2, 1926 1,667,506 Bankrat Apr. 24, 1928 2,246,706 Vorhies June 24, 1941 2,283,068 Johnson May 12, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 28,688 Australia 1 Aug. 25, 1931 418,531 France a Sept. 30, 1910 592,393 'France Apr. 29, 1925 810,307 France Dec. 28, 1936 835,476 France Sept. 26, 1938 

